The history of weather vanes is an interesting one which spans many
centuries and travels over many countries.

The earliest recorded weather vane honored the Greek god Triton, and adorned
the Tower of the Winds in Athens which was built by the astronomer Andronicus
in 48 B.C. The figure, which is believed to have been 4 to 8 feet long, had the
head and torso of a man and the tail of a fish. To the ancients, the winds had
divine powers. In Greece and pre-Christian Rome, weather vanes depicting the
gods Boreas, Aeolus, Hermes and Mercury decorated the villas of wealthy
landowners.

Archaeologists have discovered bronze Viking weather vanes from the 9th
century. They have an unusual quadrant shape, usually surmounted by an animal
or creature from Norse fable. They were commonly used on Viking ships, and were
also popular on Scandinavian churches. These weather vanes can be seen even
today in Sweden and Norway.

In the ninth century A.D., the pope reportedly decreed that every church in
Europe should show a cock on its dome or steeple, as a reminder of Jesus'
prophecy that the cock would not crow the morning after the Last Supper, until
the disciple Peter had denounced Him three times (Luke 22:34). Because of this
story, "weather cocks" have topped church steeples for centuries,
both in Europe and in America. The 11th century Bayeux Tapestry even includes a
scene of a craftsman attaching a rooster vane to the spire of the Westminster
Abbey.

It is probably the banners which flew from medieval towers in Britain,
Normandy and Germany which are the precursors to our modern weather vanes. The
word "vane" actually comes from the Anglo-Saxon word
"fane", meaning "flag". Originally, fabric pennants would
show the archers the direction of the wind. Later, the cloth flags were
replaced by metal ones, decorated with the insignia or coat of arms of the lord
or nobleman, and balanced to turn in the wind. From these antecedents come the
banners which the early American colonists favored for their meeting halls and
public buildings.

America's first documented weather vane maker, Deacon Shem Drowne, created
the famous grasshopper vane atop Boston's Faneuil Hall (1742), as well as the
banner for Boston's Old North Church (1740), the rooster now on First Church in
Cambridge (orig. 1721), and the large copper Indian for Boston's Province House
(1716). Thomas Jefferson attached the weather vane on Monticello to a pointer
in the ceiling of the room directly below, so he could read the direction of
the wind from inside his home. And George Washington commemorated the end of
the Revolutionary War by commissioning a "Dove
of Peace" weather vane from Joseph Rakestraw in 1787, for his
estate at Mount Vernon.

In the early 1800's, Americans favored weather vanes in patriotic designs,
including the Goddess of Liberty, and of course, the Federal
Eagle. By the middle of the century, vanes of famous racing horses like
"Black
Hawk", "Smuggler" and "George M. Patchen" were
being modeled after the popular Currier and Ives prints. In the 19th century,
there were many weather vane manufacturers mass-producing vanes in dozens of
designs. Some of the more famous makers were L. W. Cushing, J. W. Fiske, Harris
& Co., A. L. Jewell & Co., and E. G. Washburne & Co.

In the last decades of the 19th century, Victorian buildings had fancy
weather vanes and elaborate metalwork embellishing almost every inch of roof
space. We have found that Victorian style copperwork, de rigueur on Queen Anne,
Second Empire, Richardsonian and Tudor buildings, is in great demand for the
Victorian Revival homes of today. After 1900, the movement to a simpler style
of architecture was reflected in the silhouette weather vane, which often
depicted sporting scenes or figures of a humorous nature.

Current weather vane artists enjoy the opportunity to both recreate the
antique vanes of Europe and America, and invent new sculptural forms, sometimes
using non-traditional materials. It will be interesting to see what the future
will bring to the constantly evolving History of Weather Vanes.

Please refer to our extensive Bibliography for further reading on the
subject of weather vanes.

Our favorites are:

Myrna Kaye, Yankee Weather Vanes - their place in the larger scheme
of American history.

A. Needham, English Weather Vanes - interesting bits of information
on the buildings they adorn.

Clemens Hellmut Potz, Wetterfahnen - for European history.

Robert Bishop, A Gallery of American Weathervanes and Whirligigs -
lots of weather vane trivia, good photos and some vanes you won't find
elsewhere.